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Insulin pill may soon be a reality for diabetes treatment

Daily jabs of insulin are a painful reality for many with diabetes. That may change if researchers who have successfully tested oral insulin in rats are able to replicate those results in humans.

Nearly 350 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and that number is predicted to grow to more than 500 million by 2030. While the more common form, type-2 diabetes, does not always need insulin treatment, nearly a quarter of all diabetes patients depend on insulin injections. Estimated annual sales of oral insulin could be as high as $17 billion.

The benefits of an insulin pill include more than just ease of taking the drug. A pill would mean patients can start taking insulin earlier in the disease’s development, which could reduce some of diabetes’ secondary complications like blindness and the impaired healing that leads to amputations.